satxdiver

I was on a Princess cruise (don't remember which one) and I asked the maître'd what was accepted for female adult pax. He told me that women's fashion is basically in the eye of the beholder and he was not able to question women on what they wear. So ladies wear what you want and call it fashionable.

I like to keep tabs on my email so have to move up one to see it.

Be aware that OBC is credited to only one person and can only be used by that person. So most are in a cabin for 2 usually DW and DH but there are other combinations. When early booking an excursion for instance the fee will be deducted from that person's OBC. If the two do not have the same OBC then there could be a problem. I get a lot of OBC for several reasons while my DW gets a much smaller amount. For me to book an excursion for both of us. my DW may not have enough OBC and will have to submit a payment. When on board it all gets into the same pot assuming only one cc (or $$ deposit) is posted for the two of you, then any purchases will come from the common money pot. So often I have to wait until on board to book something or pay before the cruise.

Boarded Dream in Galveston last year for a b2b. Carried on 4 bottles of wine. They closely inspected our boarding information to be sure it was a b2b. We were allowed to proceed to boarding.

Carnival PLC operates it 9 operating cruise lines as totally separate companies similar to what holding companies do. There is little commonality between them.

We just left the Vista on Saturday. We had fixed early dining at 6 PM so no wait and the servers quickly learned our names, what we like to drink (iced tea) and our other requests. Excellent service. The ship stayed on Galveston time and reminded everyone that we were out of sync with the ports - Mahogany Bay, Belize and Cozumel. The cabin was clean and they only service the cabin once each day with you selecting morning or evening. Towel animals every night. Room steward came by shortly after boarding. Cabins not available boarding day until after 1 PM Breakfast/Brunch app always said 10 minute wait. Never saw any other time. We reserved a table before we left the cabin near the front elevators deck 9. We did have to wait a few times. Lunch is not served in the MDR. Menu never changes. Brunch only on sea days. Never went to the theater or to comedy shows. Spent time in evening either at the piano bar or listening to rock band. Some nights it was SRO in either place. Both were excellent. There were two "elegant nights" mostly in name only as pax wore about anything and got in. We had 11:30 - 12:00 boarding time with little lines. We were on the ship by noon. If you are going to Belize be aware there is a ~30 minute tender ride into the port. You have to have tickets to board the shuttle on a first come basis. CD Louis (Louie) was from UK and was OK but nothing outstanding. On the second sea day we had two medical emergencies that required patients being removed from the ship. Captain announced at ~7 AM that a patient was being airlifted to Cancun. At ~1 PM we made an emergency stop at Cozumel to offload a patient into a waiting ambulance. It happens. We arrived at Mahogany Bay one hour late. On the last port day in Cozumel we were sitting at Fat Tuesday's having a beer and chips watching the Carnival Horizon since it was in front of the Vista. We saw two different ambulances about 30 minutes apart go to the Horizon and remove patients.

We just got off the Vista and had brunch on several days usually going around 9 AM. App said wait was 10 minutes so that must be the standard response. We reserved the table before we left out stateroom in the forward part of the ship. All but once the table was ready by the time we walked almost the full length of the ship and caught on elevator down to the 3rd deck. The one time we had to wait a few minutes before we were called. I imagine that later times after 10 AM the wait was longer despite what the app said.

The ambulance was waiting on the pier for our arrival but it took 1/2 hour or so to allow them to remove the pax. Certain legal issues to resolve. We were in Coz as our last port stop and were tied to the pier along with the Carnival Horizon. We were enjoying a libation and some chips when we saw the ambulance making two trips to the Horizon about one hour apart. At least they were in port when the ambulances were needed. I do not know what happened to the two taken off the Vista or Horizon or their prognosis.

We are on the Vista right now. We made all three ports (Roatan, Belize and Cozumel). Leaving Coz the ship was going 22+ knots but then dropped back to 19.5 knots which it is doing now as we cross the Gulf arriving tomorrow morning. This in spite of having to slow down and come near Cancun so that the Mexicans can offload a medical emergency at 7 AM the second day. Then later at ~noon the ship had to go into port at Coz for another medical emergency. We still made Roatan but one hour later. Luckily no more medical emergencies after those two.

Just remember that an emergency on your part does not make one on the US Embassy. US Embassy and Consulates are closed on US federal holidays and on that country's holidays. In order to get you credentials to get back in the country, they have to get permission from the State Department in Washington DC. They don't act fast!

We are on the Vista right now. We have made all three port stops (Roatan, Belize and Cozumel). We are leaving Coz at 3 PM having arrived at 7:00 AM. On the southward cruise we had a medical emergency and had to put a pax off to the Mexican Coast Guard at Cancun on the first day at sea. On the second day at sea we had to made an emergency stop at Cozumel to put off the second medical emergency. The ship arrived in Roatan one hour late. I have been watching off and on and the fastest the ship has gone was 18.5 knots. I would imagine that with the second medical emergency the ship should have sailed faster. The Vista did arrive in Galveston at 8:00 AM when we boarded. Which is late possibly due to the engine problems. They did manage to sail away on time last Saturday.

People born in Guam are US citizens, can move to the mainland (US states/DC) and register to vote as soon as they declare their address in one of the states or DC. Best answer is to get a passport recognized by all nations on the earth.

We are on the Vista now having left Galveston on Saturday, 1/14. This is Monday, a sea day, as we head to Roatan. Early this morning the Mexican Coast Guard met us off Cancun for a medical evacuation. Then we had another medical emergency around noon so the ship changed course and went into Cozumel to evacuate the second patient where the ambulance met us at the Puerto Maya pier. We have had medical evacuations before but just one so two on the same cruise and same day is unusual. We are now headed to Roatan and hopefully no more medical emergencies.

I have a CPAP which I carry onboard in its original bag. The bag fits over my roll on bag which contains my essential items. The rest is checked luggage. This time I brought my own water since we drove to the port and carried the small bottles onboard in a cloth bag. i use the small bottles, 6 for 1 week cruise, and turn back the humidity level. I have an extension cord and magnetic hooks to run it over the ceiling.

I have worn shorts in the MDR on the CB in the Caribbean after I saw others doing the same. This on non-formal nights. I have never worn a tie or coat on formal nights on any ship or cruise line. What I have been wearing the last many years is a short sleeved guayabera shirt with black jeans or sometimes blue jeans. I have worn blue jeans on all non-formal nights without even a side look. Other cruiselines for the mass market dropped their pretense of "formal " night years ago. PCL needs to follow suit and join their competitors. For the record I have never seen shorts worn on formal night which just means I have never personally seen it.

This is simply something that is done here in the "colonies" (i.e. the USA and maybe Canada). Being a card carrying senior citizen I have seen it done for my lifetime. I was in the military as was my father and did not wear a hat in a restaurant but many do. Each country/region has their own peculiarities.

Great deal if you cruise several times a year particularly with stock trading at ~$9 each or ~$900 outlay. The best part is that it applies to ALL Carnival Corp Cruise Lines like Princess, HAL and others.

Carnival and Royal are two separate corporations and reciprocity does not exist. Therefore the OM gets to start over to earn status. Carnival Corp & PLC has over 100 cruise ships scattered over 10 separate brands and does not offer reciprocity between the 10 different brands. RCCL does offer reciprocity between its RCL and X cruise brands.

When CCL posts that the ship leaves at 6:30 PM that means it actually sails away. The ship cannot do that until the guests are back onboard, the gang planks pulled, doors shut and lines dropped. So plan on being back on board by the advertised back on board time which will be around 45 minutes prior to sail away. Therefore a 6:30 departure time translates into being back onboard at 5:45 or earlier. The ship only waits for their tours to return and generally not for late arrivals so be warned. Best sport is standing on the balconies/railings to watch the "pier runners" who are trying to reboard at the last possible minute. Great sport to watch them and do catcalls from the ship.

We were on the Vista and Dream last year and did not have a problem going through security. We have a 6' black extension cord with only one plug on the end and an extended 10' black cord that interfaces with the CPAP transformer.

Agree with all that if you do not have priority, be the first to show up and get a tender ticket. We have done the cave tour many times and been to the different Mayan ruins as well as the river tour so we now stay usually on the ship. If we do get off it will be after everyone else has left and just walk right onto the tender returning before the masses and long lines. I have also been on several scuba trips and the diving is great but from a liveaboard since it is a long way to the dive sites. Very beautiful diving including the blue hole.

I bought the magnetic hooks to use on the wall and ceiling as well as a 6' extension cord. I found a new cord for my CPAP that is 5" to use instead of the cord provided with the CPAP. I am able to string the cord across the ceiling to my CPAP keeping it out of a trip hazard. So far I have always been able to get the distilled water delivered. RCCL and Princess do not charge for the water but CCL does!

One of the major complaints in using a TA. I like to see my monetary information from Carnival as well as from the TA. I just recently decided to book again with a TA but it may be the last time. Carnival would like that!

I have sailed on the Vista twice now and will be boarding her again on Saturday. Previous I have sailed on the Dream, Magic and Breeze and I agree that the piano bar is a dungeon closed in and dark much like the comedy dungeon on the deck below with its low ceiling and no windows. Luckily the last two cruises the piano player was lively but the closed in dungeon feeling takes away from it. The other ships have a more open piano bar with more seating. I will probably be spending most of my evenings in the Ocean Plaza listening to the band.

That thread on the Ruby was done by a travel agent and is very long and thorough. It has menus and Patters in it along with many pictures. Very informative.